Hy-Vee promotes healthy cooking with in-store chef

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Hy-Vee is the latest supermarket chain to bring a trained chef into the store to encourage customers to cook healthy food at home, according to published reports.

The Sioux Falls, S.D., Argus Leader reported Wednesday that a local Hy-Vee store had brought in chef Scott Teal to oversee food displays, demonstrate ways to prepare food and teach classes. It also gives the store a way to showcase new produce, such as brown-colored chocolate grape tomatoes.

Hy-Vee has long emphasized healthy eating, and getting customers out of the restaurants into their kitchens is one way to do that. Natural food chain Whole Foods has a similar initiative, fielding an army of “cooking coaches” who talk to customers about what kinds of foods are available in the store and how to pick out the right kinds of food.